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Adaptation of a Proactive Smoking Cessation Intervention to Increase Tobacco Quitline Use by LGBT Smokers
• To describe the targeting of a proactive smoking cessation intervention for increasing use of a state tobacco Quitline among LGBT smokers receiving care at a federally qualified health care center.
What Is the Purpose of the Study?
• Smoking prevalence rates among LGBT individuals are nearly double the rate of the general population.
• A lack of awareness and access to smoking cessation resources is an important driver of persistent smoking.
• State tobacco quitlines provide free and accessible smoking cessation treatment offered by trained counselors.
• Despite the demonstrated efficacy of quitline services, only 8% of smokers who are trying to quit and who are aware of quitlines actually use them.
• Research suggests that LGBT smokers are even less likely to know about or use quitlines.
• Targeted clinic-based interventions aimed at increasing LGBT smokers' awareness of and engagement with quit lines represent a cost-effective strategy for addressing tobacco use disparities in this population.
What Is the Problem?
• LGBT smokers are interested in receiving additional support for smoking cessation.
• Participants were largely unaware of services offered by the state tobacco quitline.
• Participants agreed that a proactive letter sent from their health care provider advising a quit attempt and providing information about the state tobacco quitline was acceptable.
• Suggested changes to the proactive letter included providing more information about the state tobacco quitline and addressing concerns regarding patient privacy.
• Community input informed changes to our intervention design and materials resulting in higher acceptability ratings and underscoring the benefit of community engagement as part of intervention development research.
What Are the Findings?
• LGBT smokers.
• Health care providers and health researchers. [End Page 43]
• State and local health policy advocates concerns about tobacco control.
• Academics and clinicians interested in increasing smoking cessation and working collaborative to improve smoking-related illnesses.
Who Should Care Most?
• Tobacco use disparities based on sexual orientation and gender identity are an important public health concern and should be addressed by LGBT serving health care centers,
• The development and testing of population-based and cost-effective interventions is critical to the reduction of these disparities.
• The next phase of the study will be to evaluate the efficacy of the intervention in increasing utilization of the state tobacco quitline among LGBT smokers receiving care at a federally qualified health care center. [End Page 44]
